In October I had the opportunity to present at the 20th Nordic Art Therapies Conference in Iceland.
Iceland was one of the places I've been wanting to visit for over a year, so when this opportunity came by, it seems like the perfect timing to do so, especially since I usually like to do some work wherever I travel, this seemed perfect!
And it was... As the plane was landing in Iceland, it seemed as if we were entering a mystical, magical world of some kind.. And as the plane landed, I saw a translucent purple wave through the window where I was seated. The beauty of Iceland is spectacular and the people I met there seemed very creative, lovely and very present in the now.. None of them whom I met there had ever checked their phones when I was with them! (Which, unfortunately seem to the norm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) .
Iceland was one of the places I've been wanting to visit for over a year, so when this opportunity came by, it seems like the perfect timing to do so, especially since I usually like to do some work wherever I travel, this seemed perfect!
And it was... As the plane was landing in Iceland, it seemed as if we were entering a mystical, magical world of some kind.. And as the plane landed, I saw a translucent purple wave through the window where I was seated. The beauty of Iceland is spectacular and the people I met there seemed very creative, lovely and very present in the now.. None of them whom I met there had ever checked their phones when I was with them! (Which, unfortunately seem to the norm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) .
The 20th Nordic Art Therapies Conference was held from the 11th to the 14th of October.
The conference was amazing! I am always inspired when I attend any Creative Art Therapies or Dramatherapy conferences, as it feels as if I am reconnecting with my tribe, a sense of coming home.. This is so perhaps because there is so few of us in the field of creative arts therapy, especially when it comes to Dramatherapy in Malaysia.
At the conference, I had presented a yoga class on a Friday morning at 8am. Despite the very early hour (considering that we had a full day of conference the day before), the room filled up as the minutes passed by at the beginning of the session... almost running out of space for everyone to fit in. I think we may have had about or close to 40 people participating in the yoga that morning.
The participants had varying experiences of yoga practice. Some of them were practicing yoga for years, some had never done yoga before. I truly enjoyed facilitating the session. It was wonderful to have all these 'Goddesses' in my session on that day (it was one of the days of the Hindu Goddess Festival, Navarathiri)
The only regret I have is that I had forgotten to request someone to take pictures while I facilitated the yoga class...
Some of the comments and feedback I had after the yoga session were, many participants asking if I will be conducting the classes every morning of the conference, and a couple of the other comments which I remembered were:
" I like the way you facilitated the session. It was light and enjoyable, not like some yoga sessions where the teacher is usually very solemn and serious."
" I like the stretches we did today, it helped me feel more relaxed and flexible. I think I will start taking up yoga now."
On Saturday afternoon I presented my Dramatherapy workshop : The Hero's Journey.
I had the most creative, wonderful participants ever, in my workshop!
The participants included those int he field of art therapy, music therapy, dance therapy, artists and creatives of different art forms, and few of them were dramatherapists themselves and are well established in their countries of residence.
The participants in my workshops were mainly from the Nordic countries, such as Iceland, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden. There were also participants from the USA, Scotland, Australia and Taiwan.
These are some of the pictures from the workshop:
As you can see from the images above, it was loads of fun facilitating the workshop and it was an absolute pleasure bearing witness to the creativity and insights that came through from the participants of the workshop.
There were several positive feedback received after the workshop. One of the feedback received was that the workshop created a space to play and be in the play space again. (As sometimes the arts therapists are the ones who are facilitating the workshops or sessions that they themselves may not have the time of opportunity to be participating themselves in such experiences.)
As for the rest of the conference, I savored every moment of it and loved all of the workshops which I had the opportunity to participate in and the opportunity to communicate and connect with other participants and presenters.
These are some of the pictures taken at the conference.
We Dramatherapists... representing Malaysia, Iceland and Australia
All the Dramatherapists who had participated at the conference from USA, Malaysia (me), Scotland, Australia, Taiwan and Iceland
With the amazing Dr. Nisha Sajnani, who gave a powerful Keynote speech at the conference. She is the director of the NYU Drama Therapy program.
Out for hike during the break time..
I even won s ski cap in a lucky draw at the Gala dinner.
Thank you! Love my new lucky red ski cap! 😃
I would like to thank the Conference Organizing Committee, for the opportunity to present at the conference and also for organizing such a wonderful conference!
I would like to thank Sigga, for kindly hosting me at her home in my last few days in Iceland.
I would also like to thank Áslaug, who was my roommate during the conference.
I miss Iceland...the breathtaking landscapes, the rainbows ( I saw 6 rainbows in a day!!!), the Northern lights, the cold weather (never realized I actually enjoyed the cold that much!) and mostly the wonderful people I had encountered during my time there.
Hopefully there will be a next time, to further experience the magnificence and beauty of Iceland of it's many facets.
